FAL Trouble

[spencer rifle]

I have recently acquired an FAL (Entreprise receiver) that is having trouble. I will not chamber the Israeli 7.62 NATO I tried to test it with. It will chamber cheap steel case (usually), but not German DAG. But it is not consistent - it will chamber some rounds and not others in a most random fashion. The bolt will close most of the way, but the bolt carrier is still an inch or so back. Makes no difference if loading from a mag or single by hand - it will not close. And it is very tough to get the bolt back open - Pogo time. Rounds do not seem to be seating properly in the chamber, though I can see no obstruction. The bore appears clean and bright, as does the chamber, though there seems to be a little roughness in the chamber area that supports the case neck. It's hard to tell with the lighting I have.

I have not shot it yet, so I don't know about any mag/feed/eject problems. Have to get it to chamber properly first. An advice?

 

[indykid]

There has to be a burr or some obstruction in the chamber if you can't get a round to chamber consistently. Check the chamber very carefully, and if you do find something, you might need a good gunsmith to ream the chamber or at least to clean it up for you, unless you have the tools and are willing to do it yourself. (sorry, not trying to flame you, just don't know you personally to know if you would even want to attempt it yourself. )

 

[Seven High]

Is this a new rifle? If so, get some emery paper and use it to polish the rails inside of the receiver. Also polish the magazine lips. Lubricate the inside of the receiver and try it again.

 

[spencer rifle]

It is not new, but I'm not sure how much it had been used before. It had been sitting unused for a while. I did take it apart and lube it. Will look into polishing, both the rails and the chamber.

 

[gska3873]

Before modifying anything check your headspace. Also, check the receiver clearance for the extractor.

 

[snorko]

Do you have a replacement receiver cover scope rail on this, the kind you tighten on with screws on both sides? I had a FAL that would not function with a DSA scope rail, replaced the original cover and it worked like a dream.

 

[smspears592]

I am glad to read your post. I am looking for a FAL. I have the bug. I need to do some research first. Thanks for posting your issues for us all to learn from.

 

[Uralguy]

Where are you? I would be willing to look at it in my shop. I can get my hands on a GoNoGo gauge. Don't sand on the chamber or you could ruin the barrel. I am in scenic Kokomo. Don't try to chamber live ammo. If you want I can make you up some dummy rounds. They are very handy to have in different calibers. Just for this reason. PM me if I can help.

 

[windellmc]

falfiles.com is your friend.

 

[Indycar]

The FAL uses an adjustable gas system. Your comment about using different types of ammo and the symptoms you describe are textbook problems related to the gas system being out of adjustment.

The FAL Files has a good how to on adjusting the gas.........

FAL GAS SETTING, FIELD STRIPPING, AND CLEANING

If that doesn't do it, make sure there are 2 recoil springs wound inside each other. A weak recoil spring would also cause your symptoms

Hope that helps, if it doesn't PM, I've built a few Fals

 

[spencer rifle]

Appears I found the problem. After much experimentation, it seems that the chamber needed some breaking in. It eventually chambered single cartridges without problem. But would not strip them successfully from a mag. I thought it might be the mags and polished and cleaned them. No help. It seemed from observation that the extractor was getting stuck and not riding over the cartridge rim properly. There didn't seem to be enough room between the receiver and the extractor. Some filing of the edges of the extractor opened this up a little and now cartridges feed properly from the mag. Haven't fired it yet, so we'll see later if it is really fixed.